I can't get my mouse to work with this emac.

I got an eMac (short for educational Mac) from a friend. It is one of thesehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMac in case you want to know exactly. Anyway, I wanted to try to get some function out of it seeing as I'm a Linux guy and a windows guy, Apple is something new to play with.

My mouse no longer works with the Mac and I don't know why and for the life of me with all my experience with Win. and Linux I can't fix it. I have two that I've tried, both of them were Microsoft mouses that had worked previously but then one day they stopped. I can move around with the keyboard but the mouse is a no go. Does anyone know what I might have done to screw up a perfectly functioning mouse? I know they are connected correctly because when I plug it into the USB port the laser light comes on, problem is the cursor in the screen doesn't move. I'd appreciate any help.

adrianblaine said:

From what I understand, a USB port can break down in such a way that it can still provide power, but the communication of data between device and machine can stop. Have you tried switching USB ports like using the one the keyboard is plugged into?

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Thank you for your fast response!

Yes I have tried that already, the eMac has 3 USB ports and the Apple Keyboard itself has 2, all of which give me a light on both mouses and none of which allow the mouse to work.

What I don't understand is everything was working perfectly and I left the thing on all night, when I woke up the mouse no longer was working.

bump

Tomorrow said:

I had this happen with a PC once - USB ports would still provide power but the data link was "broken." Keep in mind that one USB controller on the motherboard provides both power and data pipes to multiple USB ports; if that controller goes bad, all of its ports go bad.

I don't know whether the eMac has multiple ports - I found a workaround on my old PC by plugging USB devices into the back of the computer rather than in the front.

Also, is it just the mouse that won't work, or is it everything you plug into a USB port?

Good luck!

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Well there are only 3 USB's on the side and the keyboard works in one of those. If the USB's arent working then it would be extremely unlucky to have 2 ports on the computer go out and the 2 others on the keyboard itself go out.

I wonder if it is the update I tried to do before going to bed. It didnt go through because I dont have the system password, which is another issue entirely.